The Whole Child

THE WHOLE CHILD

Research shows that health and wellness directly relate to academic performance: healthier students are better equipped for learning. As a result, schools across Nebraska have incorporated a healthy balance of the mind and body into their educational curriculum to help close the achievement gap. From proper nutrition to physical fitness to socio-emotional growth of students to the wellbeing of teachers, school-based health and wellness programs empower our schools for academic achievement and enhance our students' ability to learn.

This program explores what school programs around the state do to incorporate health and wellness into an academic environment in which students flourish. Discover how schools prepare our students to be focused and fit for the classroom and for life.

"Children come to us with more than just their math book or their science book in their backpacks. And we know that it doesn't matter how great a curriculum you have, how great a teacher there is, or how great a mentor that you have. You can pour all the tutoring hours you want into this child, but if it's a child that’s facing violence, or is depressed, or is hungry, there's nothing that can address that issue other than taking care of that basic need first, because they are just not going to be ready to learn." — Julane Hill, Director of School Health, Nebraska Department of Education